The Myth of Baby Boom During Economic Busts: The Wall Street Journal (Charles Forelle)
With the stock market off 87% and real wages down 8%, Iceland has had some hard times. But can all this economic trouble actually bring about some good? Some think that the economic struggles are producing an increase in births. That during Iceland's meltdown, many turned to love for comfort. Reykjavik's biggest hospital, which delivers 70% of Iceland's babies, rose 3.5% over the same period last year. Charles Forelle, that author of this article, seems to think otherwise. In this article he states that "it is more likely that prosperity, not poverty, is good for baby-making."
[Toddler Tally chart]
To support his thesis, Forelle related the situation in Iceland to that of the United State's during the Great Depression. In 1929 the total fertility (average number of children per woman during her child bearing years) was 2.53, and by 1936 it had dropped to 2.15. But, during the postwar prosperity there a was baby boom. The birth rate increased, and stayed high until the mid-1960's. The U.S. experienced just the opposite. Prosperous times brought about more babies. Brian J.L. Berry of the University of Texas at Dallas said, "when times were good, a young man could get a job to support a family and marry earlier."
So is Iceland's baby boom just an anomaly? Forelle doesn't think so. When you look at the birth statistics for Iceland, you see that the increase in births really isn't anything out of the ordinary. The 3.5% increase that Iceland experienced is less then half the increase that they had the year before. He concludes that when a country is in a crisis, the last thing that comes into people's minds is having another baby.
The Myth of Baby Boom During Economic Busts: The Wall Street Journal (Charles Forelle)With the stock market off 87% and real wages down 8%, Iceland has had some hard times. But can all this economic trouble actually bring about some good? Some think that the economic struggles are producing an increase in births. That during Iceland's meltdown, many turned to love for comfort. Reykjavik's biggest hospital, which delivers 70% of Iceland's babies, rose 3.5% over the same period last year. Charles Forelle, that author of this article, seems to think otherwise. In this article he states that "it is more likely that prosperity, not poverty, is good for baby-making."
To support his thesis, Forelle related the situation in Iceland to that of the United State's during the Great Depression. In 1929 the total fertility (average number of children per woman during her child bearing years) was 2.53, and by 1936 it had dropped to 2.15. But, during the postwar prosperity there a was baby boom. The birth rate increased, and stayed high until the mid-1960's. The U.S. experienced just the opposite. Prosperous times brought about more babies. Brian J.L. Berry of the University of Texas at Dallas said, "when times were good, a young man could get a job to support a family and marry earlier."
So is Iceland's baby boom just an anomaly? Forelle doesn't think so. When you look at the birth statistics for Iceland, you see that the increase in births really isn't anything out of the ordinary. The 3.5% increase that Iceland experienced is less then half the increase that they had the year before. He concludes that when a country is in a crisis, the last thing that comes into people's minds is having another baby.